Rick Simkins, 2015

Rick works in his family’s real estate development Company in Bozeman, Mont. The firm’s main project involves developing Big Sky Town Center, a main street for the unincorporated community of Big Sky that is to include shopping, bars and restaurants as well as bringing a rural access hospital and the first full-service grocery store to the area.

In community activities, Rick serves on the board of a community housing trust that provides affordable housing for full-time residents of Big Sky, such as firefighters and teachers, where housing costs are high. He also is a member of the boards of two home-owners associations.

At Cornell, Rick majored in economics and business with a minor in psychology. He was a member of the economics and business honor society and Delta Phi Rho. “Cornell helped me develop both professionally and personally,” he wrote. “The block system taught me how to get work done on tight deadlines and how to prioritize effectively. The people I met at Cornell changed, for the better, the type of person I am.”

Rick works with Cornell’s admission office to recruit students from Montana and counsels students who have declared for the college.

Rick’s partner, Hannah Altman, is a 2013 Cornell graduate. She supervises government housing programs for three Montana counties.